AUSTRALIA: Picture builds of old, isolated but caring men

SYDNEY, NSW (Sydney Morning Herald), February 9, 2008: THE first glimpse of a unique New South Wales study that hopes to shed light on "successful ageing" has shown elderly men are more likely to be socially isolated and have no one to turn to when caring for a sick or disabled person. Researchers have exclusively extracted data for the Herald on the 45 And Up Study, which will be the largest longitudinal report on healthy ageing in the southern hemisphere. The study, established in 2002 by the Sax Institute, will track participants aged 45 and over with five-yearly questionnaires until they die, to explore how every aspect of their daily life, from whom they meet to what they eat, has an impact upon their health. There are already 60,000 participants and from next week another 100,000 people will receive the questionnaire in the mail through Medicare. Researchers want to survey 250,000 people, 10 per cent of the eligible NSW population, and will also have access to their medical records. The aim is to create an invaluable bank of information on healthy ageing, an area in urgent need of reliable evidence to inform government policy on services and intervention strategies for coming decades. The data will be linked to state databases on such things as hospital admissions and deaths. It will also underpin further research on social and economic determinants of healthy ageing, including: income; education and retirement; the effects of being overweight, obesity and exercise; risk factors for and detection and management of cancer, cardiovascular disease and mental health problems; and the use of health services. Preliminary data shows 10 per cent of men in their 80s are carers, compared with 9 per cent of women in that age group, and 13 per cent have no one they can depend on, compared with 9 per cent of women. Twenty per cent of men aged 45 and over who cared for someone full time either had nobody or just one person to depend on, compared with 15 per cent of women. Men were also more socially isolated - 16 per cent older of those than 80 spent no time with friends or family in the week before the survey, compared with 11 per cent of women, and 10 per cent did not talk on the phone to friends or family, compared with only 4 per cent of women. In the 45-49 age group, almost 14 per cent of men did not spend time with family or friends in the previous week, compared with 9 per cent of women. Data also shows that 39 per cent of men and women beyond middle age are overweight and 21 per cent obese. A greater proportion of men, 66 per cent, are overweight or obese, against 55 per cent of women. The study's scientific director, epidemiologist Emily Banks, said it was "a unique window on health over time". "It's already giving us insight into the scale of the obesity epidemic … It's already telling us about social factors in this very large group of people," Dr Banks said. She said it showed that elderly men in particular needed community support. "I think people often don't think of men as carers and they particularly don't think of men in their 80s as carers … it makes you worry that they have nobody they can turn to and they're looking after somebody. Successful or healthy ageing encompasses freedom from disease, independence, management of disability, participation in society and the workforce and productivity. By Natasha Wallace Health Reporter Copyright © 2008. The Sydney Morning Herald.